Japanese visual kei rock band SID will release their new single delete on March 4.  

The song will serve as the new opening theme for the ongoing TV anime series The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath of the Gods. The TV anime edit music video for the song was revealed on SID’s New Year special live broadcast that was held on YouTube. (SID Shinshun Special Namahaishin! The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath of the Gods Shin Kūru On Air Start! )

During the live broadcast, SID also revealed the details on their two-day special live performance SID LIVE 2020 -Star Forest- which will take place on May 9 and 10, 2020. As the new performance will show a completely new style to their normal live performances, SID fans just can’t contain their excitement. 

Japanese visual kei rock band SID is set to release their new single delete on March 4. The song will serve as the new opening theme for the ongoing TV anime series The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath of the Gods. As the song is set to feature as the opening theme from January 8, fans cannot contain their excitement. delete will also be released digitally on the same day.

Releasing the song on digital services on the same day as it debuts in the anime isn’t the only treat SID has in store for their fans. On January 8 at 8 pm, the TV-size edit version of the music video will also premiere on YouTube.

To add to the wonderful news of the advanced release of delete on streaming services and the video release of the episode digest, all band members will be gathering together for the SID New Year special live broadcast which will celebrate the release of the anime’s new season. (SID Shinshun Special Namahaishin! The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath of the Gods Shin Kūru On Air Start! ). The stream will go live at 18:30 on YouTube straight after the initial anime broadcast. There’s no doubt that the livestream will be a grand-scale festival for fans, connecting viewers in celebration.

©️Nakaba Suzuki・Kodansha / “The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath of the Gods” Production Committee・TV Tokyo Corporation

Japanese visual kei rock band SID released their new album Shonin Yokkyu in September 2019. With their signature elegant instrumentals and strong identity in the music scene, SID’s new album marks a new chapter in their career and has become very popular. SID recently announced their new song delete, which will be used as the new opening theme for the ongoing TV anime series The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath of the Gods from January 2020 onward. Now, it has been announced that delete will be released as a single on March 4, 2020. 

The single will be available in three different formats: First-Press Limited Edition, which will include a CD and a special bonus DVD; Limited Pressing Edition, which comes with an original Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath of the Gods illustration; and Regular Edition. There are also bonus goods available with the purchase of the single so if you are keen to get your hands on them, you stand a better chance if you reserve one. Fans just can’t contain their excitement for the new anime episodes to come in January. 

©️Nakaba Suzuki・Kodansha / “The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath of the Gods” Production Committee・TV Tokyo Corporation

Japanese visual kei rock band SID released their new album Shonin Yokkyu on September 4, 2019. The four-member band embarked on a tour to promote the record, and at the finale show held at Tokyo International Forum Hall A, they performed their new song delete for the first time which it was announced will be used as the new opening theme for the ongoing TV anime series The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath of the Gods from January 2020 onward.

The crowd’s reaction to the song was huge, and excitement only grows as we count the days to hearing it in the anime series.

SID said: “We were given the opportunity to perform the opening theme for The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath of the Gods. We are honoured to be able to collaborate with an anime that has the world excited. ‘delete’ is a song with a message to those people who want to get rid of their past and present, but also living with strength. We would love it if people came to know about us through the anime series.—SID”

©️Nakaba Suzuki・Kodansha / “The Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath of the Gods” Production Committee・TV Tokyo Corporation

Kenshi Yonezu’s 2018 single Lemon has broken many milestones to date, and today marks yet another etching in history.

The music video for Lemon officially broke 500 million views on December 17, 2019 at 10:08am (JST), which marks one year and 295 days since it was released on YouTube. Yonezu now holds the record for most viewed Japanese artist on the video platform.

Photo by Tomokazu Yamada

Yonezu’s other music videos have also garnered huge views: Uchiage Hanabi is on 327 million, Aine Kuraine is on 236 million, and LOSER is on 228 million (as of December 17, 2019). All nine of his music videos total over 1 billion views (the aforementioned four, orion, Peace Sign and Haiiro to Ao (+Masaki Suda), Flamingo, and Paprika), and he has 4.59 million subscribers, making him the most subscribed-to Japanese music artist. His channel also has over 2.4 billion views, and the numbers continue to soar.

Lemon enjoys yet another year of success following its overwhelming popularity upon its release in 2018. To thank fans for its success, a billboard has been put up at the Hachiko Exit of Shibuya Station in Tokyo, which reads “Kenshi Yonezu” on the left and “Music Carries On” on the right. It will be up until December 29, 2019.

Particularly over the past two years, Kenshi Yonezu has been making history in the charts. His song Lemon was highlighted as song of the year on Billboard JAPAN Hot 100 of the Year 2019 and the U.S Billboard HOT 100 for two consecutive years in a row, making Yonezu the first ever artist to top the Billboard charts for two consecutive years in a row with the same song. 

Photo by Tomokazu Yamada

Following the release of Lemon in March 2018, its digital and physical downloads scored ranks in the charts 25 times, pushing Yonezu onwards to continue his streak into 2019 where he saw more no.1s, 3 million downloads on his song Lemon, which set the record for fastest downloaded song in Japan, and now almost half a billion views on the official music video for Lemon. The song’s overwhelming popularity even scored it no.1 in Japan’s karaoke rankings where it reigned for a whole 85 weeks: the longest of any song. 

 Yonezu dominated the Billboard JAPAN Hot 100 of the Year 2019 download rankings for two consecutive years in a row and four of his ten songs made it onto the charts, including Lemon at no.1, Uma to Shika at no.5, Machigai Sagashi at no.6 (performed by Masaki Suda, written by Yonezu) and Paprika at no.7 (performed by Foorin, written by Yonezu). His achievements even stretch to producing and he is loved by children and adults in Japan alike. 

Aiming to cheer everybody on in the runup to 2020 and beyond, Kenshi Yonezu formed two music groups consisting of young children called Foorin and Foorin team E to perform the Japanese and English versions of his song Paprika respectively as part of an ongoing music project. 

Foorin team E “Paprika” Dance Video

Check out the English version of Paprika performed by Foorin team E on YouTube. 

Paprika was dropped on digital services worldwide on December 2. Paprika will also be released on CD in First-Press Edition and Regular Edition copies on January 22 in Japan. The First-Press Edition comes in a seven-inch jacket containing the lyrics on a displayable card, a DVD of the music video and origami paper. There is also the chance to get your hands on a bonus Paprika dream magnet which will be in limited availability at selected music shops in Japan. Information on places to purchase will be revealed in the near future. The illustration for the CD jacket was created by Ryu Kato, who also created the illustrations used in the music video for Kenshi Yonezu’s cover of Paprika and the illustrations for the jacket of Foorin’s version of Paprika.  

As is the case with the Japanese version of Paprika, the royalties generated by Yonezu from the release of the English version of Paprika and its secondary usage will be donated to Independent Administrative Corporations and Japanese sports foundations in order to assist athletes of the future generations.  

Photo by Takako Noel

Paprika is working up a sensation throughout Japan as a break-through kid’s song. When Foorin released Paprika in 2018, the dance music video was viewed over 140 million times on YouTube and Paprika-related videos on NHK’s website generated over 260 million views. The song’s lyrics and music writer and producer Kenshi Yonezu even released his own cover of Paprika earlier this year in August. In just four days and nine hours since its upload, the cover was viewed over 10 million times, which is the fastest record for any of Yonezu’s music videos. Now the video has over 50 million views and is loved by people of all generations. 

Yonezu’s projects are propelling forward full steam ahead. Who knows what he’s got next up his sleeve?

Foorin is a music unit made up of elementary school children with music and lyrics produced entirely by Kenshi Yonezu. Their single Paprika was released on August 15, 2018. Following auditions for native English-speaking children, Yonezu formed Foorin team E to create an English version of Paprika. 

Since the debut of Foorin’s song and dance video in 2018, the song appeared in collaboration with NHK Educational TV and has made multiple appearances in events across Japan, adding a sprinkle of fun to the lives of Japanese children. It has become one of the most phenomenal kid’s songs of the century. 

Yonezu’s cover of the song became an instant hit among people of all generations and was well-received overseas. With a desire to make singing and dancing to Paprika more of a global sensation, he set about creating an English version of the song with native English-speaking children.

Foorin team E consists of main vocalists Jasmine (10) and Corban (8) and chorus and dancers Len (12), Evangeline (12) and Clara (6).

Foorin team E’s first-ever performance of Paprika will take place at ABU TV Song Festival in Tokyo on November 19 at NHK Hall and they will also perform alongside Foorin for the first time at Japan’s 70th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen. 

Get together with your family and younger siblings to enjoy two exciting versions of this cheerful song.

Foorin Artist Photo by Taro Mizutani

Kenshi Yonezu Artist Photo by Tomokazu Yamada

Perfume just dropped their first-ever greatest hits album Perfume The Best “P Cubed” on September 18.

Perfume appeared as the first ever J-pop girl group to perform at the 2019 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival earlier this year―a year which marks 15 years since their major debut.

The enormous greatest hits album features a long list of 52 tracks, all created by Yasutaka Nakata, and all carefully selected by the group members and their staff. The line-up includes singles, hit tracks always perfumed at live shows, their latest track Nana Nana Nairo which was released digitally back in July, and an all-new song entitled Challenger.

The album will be released in several editions. Limited Pressing Edition and First Press Limited Edition copies are coupled with a bonus disc which features music video for the title track Future Pop as well as a digest live video compiling footage from the group’s 4th world tour “FUTURE POP” which was taken across Shanghai, Taiwan and North America from February to April earlier this year. It also comes with the fan-favourite radio series featuring Perfume.

Additionally, Perfume’s entire discography from their major debut to today, including albums and singles, was made available on major streaming platforms including Spotify on September 18. This includes everything from their 2005 major debut single Linear Motor Girl to the greatest hits album.

Celebrate 15 years of Japan’s biggest J-pop group Perfume by listening to Perfume The Best “P Cubed”.

Kenshi Yonezu released his new single Uma to Shika on September 11 and it has soon become a new record-breaking sensation. The song served as the main theme for the TBS Sunday drama No Side Game, which just aired its last episode. The Oricon Weekly Single Rankings revealed that the single has so far been sold 412,000 times, which is Yonezu’s largest sale yet.

The first ever solo Japanese artist to make over 400,000 sales within the first week of a release was achieved by Tomohisa Yamashita in June 2006 with his song Daite Señorita. After 13 years and 3 months, a new record has been set by Yonezuー the perfect way to start the brand new Reiwa Era.   

The Download Chart shows that the rank for Uma to Shika is remaining steady. The Oricon Digital Single Ranking Chart shows that the single was downloaded 74,178 times in just one week, earning the top place. Since the single’s advanced sales which started on August 12, the single has remained at No.1 for five whole consecutive weeks. 

In the drama No Side Game, Hayato Kimijima (played by Yo Oizumi) works as the general manager of the company’s rugby team named Astros. He puts up a rigorous fight to keep the team from falling apart so that they can face off against their arch rival team known as the Cyclones. Despite suffering an injury, team player Jo Hamahata, who carries the spirit of the team, rises to the challenge of the fierce battle with every ounce of energy to ensure victory, gambling his sports career by wagering everything on his last shot.

The team members, staff and even the team supporters joined forces as one to ensure the team’s win, putting every ounce of their body and soul into the match. The theme drama’s theme song Uma to Shika is perfect for summing up this heated moment. The overwhelming feelings of the drama resonate in Yonezu’s song and has even stretched out to inspire many viewers. Many fans are still sending in messages about their lingering feelings towards the final episode. 

Kenshi Yonezu dropped his new music video for Uma to Shika only a week ago and it has already amassed over 10 million views on YouTube.

The music video was directed by Tomokazu Yamada who also worked on Yonezu’s Lemon and Flamingo music videos. It begins on a rooftop and sees a whopping army of 120 extras within which Yonezu himself appears. The music video has fans excited, and that fire isn’t looking to die down anytime soon as comments continuously roll in from people around the world.

‘Uma to Shika’ Music Video

Uma to Shika will be released on CD on Wednesday this week. It will be used as the main theme for the Japanese drama No Side Game which will begin airing on September 15.

Kenshi Yonezu’s new song Uma to Shika (“Horse and Deer”) has been No. 1 on Oricon’s digital charts for three weeks in a row. The single will be released on CD on September 11.

In the run up to its release next Wednesday, the song’s music video premiered at a “Mirror Screening” event yesterday (September 2).

The screening was held at Omotesando Hills Space O.

Fans were welcomed to the event with giant boards featuring photos taken from the music video. Further along the corridor were wall mirrors of various types which led to a place where the entire wall was a mirror, offering a diffused reflection of everything it mirrored. As fans waited in anticipation, the intro to Uma to Shika began playing before the the music video was suddenly projected onto the mirrors.

This offered an experience like no other as fans essentially became a part of the music video themselves.

“Uma to Shika” Music Video

The gorgeous music video was directed by Tomokazu Yamada who also worked on Yonezu’s Lemon and Flamingo music videos. It features a cast of over 120 people who take part in a video like no other from Yonezu.